BigRedDad and DD's Vaca Trip Report

I will probably not have many pics up while at WDW. I am tethering through the phone and no 4G yet.

Day 1 Sept 18th
Not too many pics from this day. Camera stayed in the bag because of weather. Too hard to manage at the airport with a daughter that is bouncing off the wall to get there.

Today is arrival day. We went to bed very late because of college football. We woke DD up at 6AM with an "invitation from Mickey" inviting her to come see him at WDW. Dead tired, she was slightly excited for a few moments. A few minutes later when she realized mommy is not going, the crying starts. It only lasted about 10 minutes to get the idea that it was OK to go and OK to miss mommy.

7AM, off to the airport. Check-in through SWA and TSA was quick. Up and waiting for our flight. 45 minutes before our flight, SWA comes across and is looking for 12 volunteers for a flight later in the morning. They offer $300 credit and breakfast vouchers for the airport. Every nerve in my body said to take $600 and wait 3 hours. Since it was DD's trip, I asked her knowing the answer. We didn't take it. The plane came from Philly. I thought this was the "City of Brotherly Love", but I guess not. We were one of the first to board. All these people, on a full flight mind you, either sat in the middle seat by themselves or on the window and aisle if there were two of them. Most people with 3 couldn't sit together. The pilot came across the intercom and told people to move to allow families to sit together. He said he can have the plane de-boarded and allow families to board first. So, the Philly people complied.

We arrive at MCO 15 minutes early :sohappy:. DD is dancing because she had to go. The restroom had a line out the door :fork:. We start a light jog down the terminal. We get to the next restroom, no one there :shrug:. We make it to DME with no hassles until....... Lines back through the DME check-in desk. WHAT!?!?!?!?!? I have never been to DME with more than 1 bus worth of people in each line. Uh oh. It took 4 buses and about 30 minutes to get on. No crowds? Walk-on? Best time to go? I am now worried.

We get to AS Sports with no muss no fuss. Check-in was quick and easy. Our room is 6119 and ready. We head over to drop off one carry on, clean up a little and off to Animal Kingdom. We get in with no problem and it is crowded. We walk back to Asia to check KRR. It was a 45 minute wait :fork:. We walk towards Africa. We see Da Vine (sp?) for a minute and then Terk is taking pictures. Great for the walk over. We make it to KS and it is only 10 minutes :sohappy:. We get on the 3rd truck and the animals are out and about. We come to the elephants and they are all in the water. The driver said elephants only go in the water if it is raining. Well, as we get off we are about at Dawa Bar and the flood gates opened. It was a typical FL afternoon storm. It rained hard for the first minute and then a constant drizzle for the next hour. I had a beer and DD had popcorn and water. It got crowded and the foreigners were rude as anything. All tables and chairs were taken. The foreigners assumed if you stood up, they could take your chair and fight with you. One heifer woman thought she could do it to everyone. A very nice American man from up North put her in her place. She refused to get up and give his pregnant wife back her seat, so he pulled the chair out from under her. I think she left a crack in the cement when she landed. People cheered, the foreigners start yelling and assuming cussing in their tongue, and eventually left in the rain.

As the rain stopped, we headed off wandering and shopping a little. DD was tired so we were taking it easy. Shopping a little, dodging the spotty showers. We watch ITTBaB and DD loves it as usual (FYI, the Real3D glasses do not work for the show). Wander around a little hoping to maybe ride something else. There was a little thunder, so Triceratops Spin is not going. Parade is about 30 minutes away and hoping it was going. All is good and it goes without a hitch. After, we have ADRs for Boma. We head out, bus arrives and leaves quickly. We walk right in for dinner. Boma was great, but no where near as great as 10 years ago on my honeymoon. I have not seen carved prime rib there since.

DD is tired so we take a cab back to AS Sports. We take a 15 minute break and then off to the pool. You'd be surprised the excitement that can be brought from a $0.50 blow up beach ball. DD and several kids play with it. Parents are happy because when they get hit (bad aim from all the kids), it doesn't hurt. Kids play for about an hour. Time for us to take a break and try get DD to bed. Nope!!! She wants to play more. We go pin trading and a little shopping. The pool movie is about 30 minutes away. I get resort mugs, fill them up, back to the room to fill mine with a cocktail, and off to the movie. Emperor's New Groove. I never saw it and neither has DD. We are next to a mother with her DD their by themselves. DD and this little girl played for 2 hours through the movie and a little after.

At this point is was time for bed (about 10:15). DD is arguing that she is not tired. No reason to argue with a 5 year old that can't stay awake. I tell her she can watch her shows as late as she wants. Well, about 1 minute after she lays down, :snore::snore::snore:

Great day minus the rain.

 

[mickeysshoes]

Sounds like the Daddy Daughter trip is off to great start!! Have a awesome day today and good luck with the ponytail!!! :wave:

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Sounds like an awesome time!!!! Have fun on the rest of your trip!!!! Keep us posted on the crowds! I'll be going next week, so hoping for low crowds during the week at least!

 

[BigRedDad]

Day 2 Sept 19th
Pictures: I cannot upload while away. The bandwidth is too great and I do not have the time between work and everything to use that much bandwidth. Eventually, VZW may block my free tethering.

Crowds: Touring Plans should be closed down. I would hate to see a crowd level above 4 if they are accurate. It is crowded. Wait times are not too bad in the morning, but there are absolutely no walk ons

Weather: Hot :fork: I am used to weather hotter than FL, but today was an exception. I could not stop sweating and it was pouring off my like I was in a pool. We were watching the 1:15 Dream Along with Mickey show. There was about 2 minutes left and I started to shiver. I knew it was the onset of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. I poured the water we had over me to give enough time for DD to watch the last bit. Right after, we head to the water fountain and shelter just to the left of the castle. A CM is there. I ask her (I can't remember her name) to just keep an eye. I has filling the Halloween drink thing we got with water and just pouring it on me as we sat there to cool off. All was fine, but we were heading back to the resort to cool off. Instead, we stopped at the Theater on Main Street for pics with the Princesses. AC a decent wait and DD could color after.

Today was a MK day. We ate a quick breakfast at AS Sports and off to the MK at 7:30 (it doesn't open until 9AM). We get there quickly. Instead of standing out front waiting, I was able to get in to take pictures with DD. The pics with the Castle and Crane are going to be funny. We are able to take pics up and down Main St and in front of the Castle.

At 9AM, rope drop. We ride Dumbo, Peter Pan, and the Carousel. DD spots Lady Tremain, Anastasia, and Drisella. We take pics and autographs. They were so good and in character. Off to ride Pooh, Tea Cups. All this done in 1 hour (GREAT!!!) We see pics being taken and a little line. It was Rapunzel. We are told she will be out again at 10:35. The CM said the line will be nearly 2 hours long in a little while. It was cool, shaded, and we were 2nd in line. My DD and several other girls played together and made the time pass quickly. We ride Indy Speedway and then a quick bite at Cosmic Rays. Off to Buzz, People Mover, and then Dream Along with Mickey. Read above for what happens here.

After we re-establish in the Theater for an hour, we head back out. It is almost 3PM for the parade. We find a decent spot that is partially shaded, it started to get cloudy and it became bearable. Well, that did not last long. Then, disrespectful guests. We are lined up just outside LTT, stroller to stroller with about 4 families. There is no space and crowds are deep back to the wall. One guest with her 2 kids decides she has a right to let her kids push our strollers apart to force her kids through. OK, they are kids, let it go. Well, they started to block the view of my DD and the other ladies 2 kids. She looked at me and I looked at her then we both looked at their mom. I asked if she can move her daughters and she looked at me like I was the anti-Christ. The other lady, her husband, and friends were all with me. Well, the 2 girls kept blocking the views, hitting our kids with their cameras as they flung them around. If the mother wasn't doing something, we were. Everything we had to block the view and block the cameras were used. I held a towel over my DD's left side "to block the sun". The lady on the other side moved her kids balloons to the right side blocking the other direction. The people on my right used their balloons to block the other view. The mother asked us if we can take them down. I told her as soon as she gets her kids out of the view of ours.

I hate to be the one that has to teach respect. I am all for kids being up front and enjoying the shows, parades, and everything. However, if I am waiting in front for 30 minutes in the sun and heat, there is no more space, and you through my child and others out of the way, you deserve to learn respect. I feel sorry for those girls and not being able to get a good view or pics. It is their fault for not learning respect and definitely their mother's for not instilling those beliefs. You are in Liberty Square. Go watch the Hall of Presidents, learn the history of our country, and learn that respect is earned, not given.

After the parade, we head towards the Carousel. DD has to go, so we go back towards Pinocchio's. Right there is a fountain. I know it is not designed or there to cool off, but it had a purpose. As we are laving, I put my head in it and cool off out of necessity. We ride the Carousel and watch Philharmagic. It has now clouded up, light drizzle, and cooled off to tolerable. DD wants to pin trade and get pressed pennies. So, we make our way from location to location seeking out pins and pennies. We end at Buzz Lightyear and ride one more time before dinner. It is about 5PM.

We get to LTT at 5:08PM (reservation at 5:35PM). We were able to get checked in but told it wouldn't not be until 5:35 to be seated. As expected and no issue. DD starts to color at the table. No sooner had she used 1 crayon, we were seated. Food was good, not great. But, it is Thanksgiing in September :sohappy:!!!! DD ate well, I ate like crazy. Everything was perfect, except the service. The waitress was slow after our food came out. We had finished eating, plates were ready to be taken. No one had gotten the message, so I stacked the plates, moved everything to the edge of the table to be picked up, watched people walk by, and no sign of our waitress (20 minutes Yes, I looked at my cell phone for the time after about 3 minutes). Well, I stopped a lady going by and asked "Where do I need to take the dishes?" Her response was "That someone takes them for you." I respond "Great, any idea when that happens?" That is where the conversation ended. Our dishes are taken while I took DD to the restroom. We were finally brought desert. I asked our waitress how the tipping works with the DDP and she said to just write the amount on the line. Well, she was standing over me waiting for me to write something. I told her just to take it and I was living cash. She looked at me with less than acceptable expression. She brought the card back in about 5 minutes and "thanked me". I am easy to please, just don't be disrespectful. I still tipped 15%, be begrudgingly.

It was time to head back to the resort, do some pin trading, and penny machines. DD was able to get a new stuffed animal as we do at the end of each day at the parks. She is into the "baby" characters with their blankets this time. We now have Baby Mickey and Baby Minnie. We have Baby Pluto and Baby Dumbo from a past trip.

Back at the resort, we swim for a bit. DD and I get chairs up front for the pool side movie "Toy Story". A little girl and her mother are there again for the movie. DD and this girl Ashton played together 2 nights in a row. Mom and Dad get a break because the 2 played together so well. Then the bad news. No poolside movie because of lightening. :shrug: No movie because of lightening, but the pool is still open? The movie is moved inside the dining area at the end. No big deal. The 2 girls played like crazy together and had a great time. There was another young girl that played with them. After the movie and now bed time. The two said goodbye because it was the others last night. They both whined a little that they didn't see the movie. The movie was the excuse. They still wanted to play.

Another great day minus the 3 incidents: heat exhaustion, disrespectful kids, and slow waitress at LTT.

 

[BigRedDad]

Day 3 Sept 20th
Today is DHS. We have 8AM reservations for Hollywood and Vine. Breakfast is standard fare. I ask for the bill right away because I want to see rope drop and get in the TSMM mad dash.

We ride TSMM in standby. It is about a 20 minute wait. DD had fun playing in the line. We make our way out to see the P&F line, but it is long already. DD reluctantly did Star Tours and was crying after. I am not sure what it is this trip, but she got scared of many things. We use our TSMM FP next. Watch Ariel and the music show in front of the hat. DD was tired and not really into it today. We head back to AS Sports around noon for swim and nap.

This is when things get interesting. No "Do not disturb" sign in the room. I put a note in the key slot saying "do not disturb". I wake up and am on a conference call for work. I hear the cleaning lady outside, I open the door and tell her to come back later. She knocks to come in!!!!! I tell her to come back later or not clean the room at all. I latch the door lock over, she opens it and tries to push the door in almost breaking the latch from the wall. I stop the conf call (with Execs from my company on), call the lobby immediately, tell them the cleaning lady is breaking in, and my next call is to 911. The good news is that it ended there.

After the call is over, DD wakes up and is ready for the MNSSHP. We get ready and head out. It was so much fun. DD enjoyed both parades, the stage show, fireworks and trick or treating. Much better experience this time than last year.

Other than the cleaning lady, it was a great day. 5 minutes of problems is easily ignored.

 

[BigRedDad]

Day 4 Sept 21
Weather: The weather is horrible. The rain and heat I can deal with. The humidity is so bad that sweat cannot evaporate which prevents the body from cooling. I am aware that this is what it will be like all week. I am surprised people were not going into seizures all over the place.

Today is an Epcot day with breakfast at Akershus. After a late night, I knew DD needed to sleep in. She wakes up around 7:30 and we are at the bus stop at 8AM with a bus waiting. We will get there early to take some pics, hit a few rides then breakfast at 9:45. We get to security and no camera. !!!! :brick: I have the camera bag but left the camera. We have 1:15 until breakfast and I need a camera. I decide to trek back to the resort and then back to Epcot. DD wants her dress to wear and guess what? I forget to grab it and she reminds me when we are already on the bus again!!! :shrug: What a waste because of my stupidity. This is the only time buses were slow...when you are in a rush.

We make it back to Epcot and breakfast 5 minutes late. The Princesses were great. DD enjoys meeting each of them: Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, and Ariel. She walked in the Processional once. It is at this breakfast that I learn a valuable lesson. The nice CM brings a picture of DD with Belle and tells her that it is a "Gift from Belle". In reality, this is no "gift" at all. It is a $25 charge. I am taking this issue up with Guest Relations. Do not tell a customer that it is a "Gift" and then charge for it. Tell us up front that it is an over-priced photo so we can decline.

We finish a great breakfast and experience. We had back and DD wants to go on Test Track. I was confused because she was afraid of the wind blowing this trip. We get there and that was the end of that. She decided she wasn't going on it. Off to Nemo and Turtle Talk. We do this for about an hour or so. After a lot of fun there, we head to Innovations. She plays with the piggy bank and I take her through the entire area. We get to the IBM part (which my organization develops) and DD is bored with it. I have to say that I don't disagree because it was pretty boring.

We leave Innovations and the Jamitors are out. We watch them for about 10 minutes. DD wants to try Kim Possible until she finds out it is traveling around World Showcase. At this point, she is tired and cranky. She really needed a nap from the late night. So, we head back to AS Sports for a swim and nap.

Once back, we jump in the pool for a few minutes and they start playing pool games for the kids. DD really got into it and had a blast. First, was a chain to fill a bucket with water from another with holes in the bottom. It took one very long game until the kids realized that they needed to cover the holes in the bottom with their hands. Next, there was a limbo contest. All the kids had a blast doing this. Then, a candy conga line around the pool. There was a water balloon game where one kid sits under it while others tried to hit the lever to pop it. About 15 kids get involved and it is not stop screaming and cheering. I don't know how DD did it because she couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat, but she popped it on one kid and got to sit in the chair.

At this point, I think the games are over and nap time. Nope!!! A treasure hunt is coming and DD wants to play. So, we head back to the pool. This is almost like a scavenger hunt. The kids had to walk around the pool to find something that was called out: something with Nemo on it, a towel with polka dots, cell phone, etc. The kids were funny going around to different people looking for it. I did not help DD out unless I had the item as did all parents. It came down to the end to get 4 different credit cards. This is not something I allowed my DD to do, so she didn't win because of it. Oh well, she got over it in a hurry. Next was Bingo. Bingo was open to everyone, but I didn't want to do it because it was about to rain and I had to manage camera, cell phone, laptop, etc. DD won the first 2 games out of 3. She would have one the 3rd also, but she missed a number and I was not telling her. She didn't need to win all 3.

After all the games, it was movie night. It was Hercules this night and DD was adamant about watching it. She said she would stay awake. 15 minutes in, she was out. I wake her up, gather all of our junk, and guide her back to the room for bed.

It was a great relaxing day.

 

[Obi]

Day 3 Sept 20th
Today is DHS. We have 8AM reservations for Hollywood and Vine. Breakfast is standard fare. I ask for the bill right away because I want to see rope drop and get in the TSMM mad dash.

We ride TSMM in standby. It is about a 20 minute wait. DD had fun playing in the line. We make our way out to see the P&F line, but it is long already. DD reluctantly did Star Tours and was crying after. I am not sure what it is this trip, but she got scared of many things. We use our TSMM FP next. Watch Ariel and the music show in front of the hat. DD was tired and not really into it today. We head back to AS Sports around noon for swim and nap.

This is when things get interesting. No "Do not disturb" sign in the room. I put a note in the key slot saying "do not disturb". I wake up and am on a conference call for work. I hear the cleaning lady outside, I open the door and tell her to come back later. She knocks to come in!!!!! I tell her to come back later or not clean the room at all. I latch the door lock over, she opens it and tries to push the door in almost breaking the latch from the wall. I stop the conf call (with Execs from my company on), call the lobby immediately, tell them the cleaning lady is breaking in, and my next call is to 911. The good news is that it ended there.

After the call is over, DD wakes up and is ready for the MNSSHP. We get ready and head out. It was so much fun. DD enjoyed both parades, the stage show, fireworks and trick or treating. Much better experience this time than last year.

Other than the cleaning lady, it was a great day. 5 minutes of problems is easily ignored.

wow!! we were at hollywood and vine at the same time as you were. too bad i didn't recognize ya or i would've definitely came over to say hi.

 

[BigRedDad]

Day 5 Sept 22
Weather: Still humid to no tomorrow. I think I am drinking almost 4 gallons of water a day

Today was Animal Kingdom with ADRs at 8:35 @ The Tusker House. We are out for the bus at 7:15AM. The bus arrives at 7:25AM. ECVers took 10 minutes to get on. Then, we go to Music and Movies. We do not arrive at AK until 8:20. 55 minutes to go from AS Sports to AK (~3 miles) is a little ridiculous. Remember when I said buses were only slow when you were in a rush? We get to Tusker House in time. Once seated and settled, I hand the waitress my card to process payment. The reason is that it takes forever to get a bill and I do not want to wait 30 minutes. Well, it took nearly 45 minutes to finally get it back while going through the characters. I am glad I asked at the beginning and not later because it would have been 10:30 before we left.

We head straight to Kali River Rapids. After being to Universal, this ride is a waste. There is only a 1 in 6 chance of getting wet. At Universal, there is only a 1 in 6 chance of getting wet, but a 5 in 6 chance of getting soaked. We were able to ride 6 times in a row before a line started to form. On the 6th ride, DD and I finally went backwards and got wet. Thank goodness, because I did not want to wait in line for another attempt.

We go to KS and have to stop for the giraffes to cross the road. They were next to the truck and you could touch them if you wanted. The driver said, emphatically, to keep arms inside the vehicle. They were that close. We were able to see the lioness and many of the other animals. After, we head to Rafiki's Planet Watch. DD was reluctant, but agreed when she could pet an animal. We happen upon the Kid's Activity here and learn about that for the first time. DD really liked it and insisted we do all of them. We see a hawk and an eagle while there. DD pet a few goats and sheep. Then we start our stamp trek to complete the Kid Activity.

We make a plan to hit Panginani (sp?) trail, then KRR twice (fast passes), the activity in Asia, then the activity outside the Tree of Life, then Dinoland. It was beginning to rain at about 2PM. We stop at FTBBQ for a late lunch. Wait out the 30-45 minute rain. Then off to Camp Minnie Mickey for the final stamp. DD really liked doing it for nothing more than a little stamp book. It was kind of neat.

We head back to AS Sports. We get back and to the pool about 5PM. Storms around moved games inside. DD loved playing them and having fun with other kids. However, the games today were more geared towards kids 10 and older. I had to help DD out more and the other kids playing were too young to do anything with them. They all had fun just from participating. We watch the movie and get snacks from the food court.

 

[BigRedDad]

Day 6 Sept 23.

This is the final day and we are going to MK. We get there early, walk down Main Street before opening, and DD plays around the Castle and looks through the store at the back of the Castle. We do the Fantasyland hustle: Dumbo 2x, Carousel, Pooh (no IASW, PP, SW). Then off to the Tea Cups and Indy Cars. Buzz is down all day (at least while we were there). We hit the Castle for the 10:35 show and the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade.

I have a pocket full of pins that DD wants to trade, so we start the pin trading trip. We start off at the kiosk outside Buzz, go to the store at Space Mountain, and then to Main Street. This is where DD had a lot of fun. We ran into Scoop. I did not know of him before. DD waited her turn. When she go to him, she asked: "May I please look at your pins?" and "Thank you." Scoop made an announcement that DD was the first to use "May I", "please", and "thank you" that day and gave her a special pin for her manners. She was excited and happy. She took pictures and got a signature from Scoop. It was a fun meeting.

It was getting hot, so we made our way through the stores for pin trading and AC. We hit the other side and watch the men working on a crystal Donald and a glass goblet in the back. It was a fun 30 minutes to watch how skilled those workers are. After, we head back out for Aladdin's Flying Carpets, Jingle Cruise, Tiki Birds, and then to the parade.

We head out for dinner ressies at Chef Mickey's. We hit the monorail for a quick jaunt. We get to the right floor and there are 6 coin machines. DD wants to get them all and I lucky I packed an extra roll of quarters. We check-in 45 minutes early and told they can seat us once the big line gets down. It takes about 5 minutes for our buzzer to go off. As we are seated, the parade of characters is starting. Goofy and Pluto take pictures and sign her autograph book. We make our way for some dinner and get back to Mickey and Donald. Dinner was excellent, staff very friendly and attentive. This meal made it look like the way it was supposed to be at all of them. DD had a blast and saw each character twice. I at the roast beef, turkey, mashed potatoes, and other items for 4 trips and a dessert run. We had not really eaten all day because of the early dinner. I am so glad we went there.

We get back to the resort for Bingo and the movie. DD is falling asleep half way through Tangled and wants to go to bed. We head to the room, she dozes off, and I pack for the most part. This pretty much ended our trip.